Round 10: France GP

Jenson finishes fourth and Takuma 11th in the French Grand Prix

B·A·R Honda finally scored its first points of the 2005 World Championship when Jenson Button finished fourth in today’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. His team-mate, Takuma Sato, finished 11th.

Jenson Button

Jenson Button

Jenson’s fourth place went one better than the fifth he scored here last year and was the result of a brilliantly consistent drive and a great strategy from the team. He made just two pitstops to most of the grid’s three.

Following the start, the B·A·R Hondas circulated in fifth (Takuma) and eighth (Jenson) positions, until Takuma pitted for the first of his three pitstops on lap 15. Jenson made the first of his two stops on lap 19, rejoining the race just behind Takuma in eighth.

At this stage, Takuma was looking very strong and even made an opportunistic passing manoeuvre on the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello at the Adelaide Hairpin on lap 22, but two brief off-track excursions later in the race ended his chances of a points finish. Jenson, however, continued his superb drive and ultimately finished fourth.

After the race, everyone at B·A·R Honda was both relieved to have got some points on the board and excited about the potential of the B·A·R Honda 007 for the remainder of the season. The car sported a new aero package at Magny Cours, which worked better and better as the French Grand Prix weekend progressed, particularly in the hot 33-degree heat of race day.

B·A·R Honda hopes to convert its new-found potential into a podium at the British Grand Prix next weekend. The team had a successful test at Silverstone earlier in the year and, for Jenson in particular, there will be a strong desire to do well in front of the British fans.

Victory in Magny-Cours went to Fernando Alonso, who dominated proceedings to take his fifth win of the year. Kimi Raikkonen finished second (having started 13th) and Michael Schumacher was third.

Takuma Sato

Takuma Sato

JENSON BUTTON

"It’s great to finally get some points on the board after such a difficult first half of the season. This is a great result for the team and things can only get better for us during the rest of the year. It’s also a real boost as we prepare for our home Grand Prix at Silverstone next week. I think we had a very good strategy here and the team has worked very hard all weekend to achieve our 4th position today. It's not just about gaining the points, which is great, but how close we were to the podium, which is a big motivator for the team right now."

TAKUMA SATO

"I didn’t have a perfect start as I was overtaken by Barrichello, but the first part of the race was quite exciting for me as I was mixing it with Jarno Trulli and Rubens. After I tried to overtake Trulli, I suffered with lack of grip and struggled with traction, which got progressively worse throughout the race. It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to score any points today, but five points is a great result for the team and I think that we will perform even better at the British Grand Prix next week."

GIL DE FERRAN, Sporting Director

"We are quite happy with what turned out to be quite a competitive race for us. Jenson did a great job to finish fourth, with good strategic work from our engineers during the race. Taku was very strong early in the race but unfortunately his race became incident-filled, which prevented him from scoring any points. We clearly need more pace but overall not a bad day for us and we are looking forward to Silverstone next weekend. Our thanks to Honda for continuing to develop such a strong engine and to Michelin who, after a difficult last race, bounced back with a win and seven cars in the top eight places."

SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development

"Jenson worked very hard from start to finish and thoroughly deserves his five points today. Takuma pushed equally hard and it was unfortunate that he was unable to get any points. As expected, the latest Honda engine performed well throughout the race and is another solid step forward for the team as we head straight into one of our two home Grands Prix at Silverstone, where we look forward to points success for both drivers."